Final Fantasy: Reunion
by Mason Wheeler
Summary: The long awaited crossover that will unify the Final Fantasy universe. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1: Taken

****

Final Fantasy: Reunion  
Prologue: The Day of Darkness

  
The Dark One watched, entranced, as the one bearing the sword dealt a fatal blow to is greatest creation. The floor began to tremble, the walls shaking with something far worse than an earthquake. _How ironic_, he thought, _losing to a shadow of a sword that comes of me._ But that was far behind him. All that mattered now was survival. Survival and the work of the Shadow.  
And survive he would. The Light Warriors seemed not to consider him a threat, instead worrying about getting out of here alive, before reality itself collapsed around them. Something he would do well to concern himself with also.  
He would show them. They would regret not taking the time to finish him. His eternal hatred for the Light fumed within him, and he grasped at the twisting magical energies all around him, trying to hold off the inevitable annihilation just long enough to escape to another realm.  
There was a great popping sound, and the Dark One ceased to be in this doomed place. An instant later, this place ceased to be, as well.  
****

* * *

"Where is Cecil?" Rosa paced the floor of their bedroom restlessly, worried for the sake of her husband. Everything had been going so well over the last three years, with the exception of the still-missing Kain, who she had not seen since returning from the fateful battle on the moon.  
After Zeromus's defeat, the monsters under his influence had all but vanished. Life had returned to the ordinary routine of kingdom life, and Cecil had hung the crystalline Ragnarok sword and its corresponding lunar Crystal armor on the throne room wall, and never taken them down.  
Until last week. More suddenly than they had appeared three years ago, the monsters were back, causing terror all over Baron's territory. And it wasn't just Baron; the airships brought reports from Eblan, Toroia, Fabul, and Mysidia that the monsters were back, stronger if anything than they had been before the downfall of Zeromus. Even the dwarven kingdom was reporting dangerous levels of monster activity, so much so that they were asking for help from the Ninjas of Eblan, which the proud dwarves had never done before.  
And the worst part was that they didn't know why. Rosa wondered for the millionth time if Zeromus had somehow revived. All she had to do to realize that evil had not left the hearts of men was spend a few hours in the Great Hall watching Cecil give audience to the peasants and attempt to resolve their disputes. But the second moon had left their world behind three years ago, going she-knew-not-where, and whatever was left of Zeromus would be there, too far away by now (she hoped) to exert an influence on their peaceful world.  
And to top it all, Cecil had headed out into all of this, saying he had to get to the root of it all. He promised he'd be back by nightfall, (which was more than an hour ago,) and told her, not as her king nor as her husband, but simply as one who loved her more than his life itself, not to leave the castle under any circumstances. Then he had retrieved his crystalline gear and walked out into the storm, as it were.  
And he hadn't come back. Rosa was still worried. What if he had been overwhelmed? She was still regarded as the greatest white mage in the world, but she had kept in practice, healing the wounded, the sick and afflicted of Baron every opportunity that presented itself. But Cecil had barely had time to leave the castle, much less continue the grueling continuous training that was required to keep a knight in shape, and she was concerned that he was no longer the mighty warrior that he had been three years ago, nor had he done anything to improve his extremely-limited White magic.  
Resolving to find him that night, either alive or to rejoin him on the Other Side, she retrieved her bow, arrows, and protective robes from the secret place where she had stored them. This was, for her also, the first time she had equipped herself like this in three years. She headed for the castle gates, and as she walked through the space between the inner and outer walls, she heard armored feet crossing the drawbridge.  
Quickly pulling the mechanism that opened the heavy wooden gates, she saw Cecil stumble inside, wounded and bleeding but not severely, but obviously exhausted. Before he even noticed her, she flooded him with the gentle caress of her healing magic, restoring his strength ever so slightly.  
He looked up, and fire flashed in his usually-tender eyes. "Where were you going dressed like that, Rosa?" he demanded. "I told you not to leave the castle." But seeing the hurt look on her face, he softened and said "and I also said I'd be back by sundown. I'm sorry." He almost whispered the last two words, and stuck his sword in the ground to lean heavily upon it.  
Rosa ran to him, enfolding him in her embrace. "You're exhausted," she said, placing his arm around her shoulders for support, forcing her also-weary body not to buckle under the weight of her heavily-armored husband. (_A little bit too much weight_, the thought flashed across her mind. _He really does need to get a bit more exercise, or am I just exhausted enough from worrying that I'm growing weak?_) She helped him up to their room and out of his armor, then most of his clothing as well, and laid him on the bed to begin examining his wounds. Her magic had been a quick job only, mostly to stop the bleeding, until she could get him into a more tranquil environment for treatment. Fortunately, it was nothing severe, but the fact that he was wounded at all, especially in that armor, concerned her. The monsters really *were* stronger than before. She cast a couple of light healing spells, but the drain just made her even more tired, and Cecil was already asleep, and seemed to be sleeping peacefully.  
She decided that he was in stable enough condition that further healing could wait until tomorrow. Removing her weapons and armor and extinguishing the torch that lighted the room, she joined him in bed and was almost asleep before she could pull a heavy blanket over the two of them to keep the cold out.  
Somewhere in the fuzzy state halfway between dreams and consciousness, Rosa reached her arm out across Cecil's chest. This state vanished very quickly, replaced by adrenaline-filled consciousness, when no chest presented itself to her touch and her arm went over the side of the bed. She looked around and realized that she was not in her bed, or even her room anymore, but in some sort of inn. And there was Cecil in a bed across the room. She rolled out of bed and shook him. "Cecil!" she whispered loudly.   
He looked up at her and grinned. "Nice to see you, too." Then his grin was replaced by a frown as he noticed the unfamiliar scenery. "Where are we?"  
"I don't know. You don't know?"  
"I don't recognize this inn. If it *is* an inn." He rolled out of bed as well, and Rosa noticed, somewhat belatedly, that they were both fully clothed, in peasants' traveling clothing. Their armor and weapons were nowhere in sight.  
Cecil realized this too and walked out into the common room. He stomped up to the innkeeper angrily and asked where they were.  
"So you's awake, then?" asked the innkeeper, seemingly unaware of the danger he was in. "This is the Galaar Inn, and I was wondering if you two would _ever_ wake up. It's past lunchtime, you know."  
"No, I didn't. I know less than you seem to. How did we come to be here?"  
"A man brought you in, almost midnight it was. You were both pale and looked like you hadn't slept good since the monsters came back. You especially was all cut up. He said he found you on the highway, beaten by monsters and left for dead. He had a bit of skill in the Healing Arts, but had to leave you here to recover. Paid your night's stay and all." He looked at the incredulous expression on Cecil's face and said, "I know, strange, isn't it. I's only saying what I heard. Good man, though. He even brought your trunk in, said to keep it for you."  
"Trunk?" Cecil asked.  
"The one you'd apparently been fighting to protect. You two some sort of merchant team?" He disappeared into one of the rooms and returned, dragging a large and obviously heavy trunk.  
"No, I'm Cecil, King of Baron, and this is my wife Rosa, and I don't know how we got here or why." He walked over to see what was in the strange trunk.  
The man squinted at them, clearly wondering why they looked like anything but royalty. "You sure you didn't get hit on the he--" he stopped as he saw what was inside the trunk. Cecil and Rosa's armor and weapons, including a shimmering crystal sword fit for a king. "Well, I must say I don't know what's going here, and never heard of no Kingdom of Baron neither, but that's the finest sword I ever did see. I don't think even the king gots a sword that nice."  
"King?" asked Rosa.  
"Yeah. King Rolan of Galaar." He frowned. "Now don't tell me you's never heard of him."  
"No more than you have heard of me or Baron, it would seem." replied Cecil. It was rapidly becoming clear that they would not get any useful information from this innkeeper, so they hurriedly donned their armor and said goodbye, walking out to see what kind of place Galaar was.  


* * *

_Yes, I know I said I'd have Reunion out "soon" and that was three years ago, but I've been extremely busy with real life stuff, including serving for two years as a missionary for my church. But now this long-delayed fanfic will begin in earnest. As I have implied before, this is to be something of a crossover, involving elements of FF1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and FFT, although not exactly as you might think. I'd add more in, but I haven't had time to play the others yet, so this is what I have planned so far.   
  
Any questions or comments on Reunion or any of my other work can reach me at masonwheeler "at" yahoo "dot" com. (Just to thwart spam address-seeker programs.) My old email is no longer valid; use this one. Anyone who wants to post a copy of this on their own site is welcome to do so; just please email me and let me know about it.  
More is soon to come.  
  
Mason Wheeler _


	2. Chapter 2: Galaar

Galaar

"Cecil," asked Rosa for the dozenth time at least, "do you recognize this city at all? Anything?"  
He shook his head. That was the most disconcerting thing about this. He had traveled the entire world, and yet this one city, and its enormous stone castle, (which should be impossible to hide from the air; certainly none of the local trees-most of which he did not recognize at all-were up to the task,) were entirely unfamiliar to him. The air had a strange smell to it, not unpleasant but something that he could not describe, as it did not smell _like_ anything he knew, and the people spoke with a strange birdlike accent that was utterly alien to his ears and his experience. It was inconceivable that he had never noticed this place, and equally so that it had all been built within the last three years; some of the houses had clearly been standing for decades or longer. The vines and moss on the walls of the castle, and the noticeable effects of wind and rain, spoke of much longer periods. _Hundreds of years_, these stones seemed to taunt him. _For centuries we have stood, and you knew it not._ And nobody they had spoken to knew of Baron, Fabul, or the other great cities of the world. He was almost forced to conclude that they were not on his world at all, but for one thing.  
They had heard of Mysidia. Every person they had asked knew of the ancient City of Mages, one of them had even visited it. But his description of it was all wrong; buildings set in the wrong places, a much higher population, and no Crystal of Water. It was, and yet was not, the Mysidia he knew. "Could we be in another time?" asked Rosa.  
The utter strangeness of the question forced Cecil out of his reverie. "What do you mean?"  
"Haven't you heard of time-travel theories?" he shook his head, and she continued. "You know that mages have limited control over time. In battle, for example, I often use this power to increase our fighting speed. And time flows differently in the realm of the Summoned Monsters than in ours, we know that all too well. Time isn't nearly as rigid as we perceive it."  
"Go on..."  
"Well, some mages ask if it might not be possible, not only to bend time but to jump through it entirely. I have magic to jump through space from one place to another; they ask could we not move through _time_ the same way."  
The very notion made Cecil's head spin. Jumping through time? "No, I've never heard of it. My discipline emphasizes the warrior's arts much more strongly than the magical side."  
She giggled. "Your 'discipline'? Your personal preference, you mean. As the world's sole Paladin, you're inventing the discipline as you go along. You'd been a Dark Knight your whole career, and when holy magic was suddenly tossed in your lap as a part of your rebirth, you had no clue what to do with it, so you chose to ignore it as much as you could." It was an old argument, without any anger left in it. She was ashamed at his monumental waste of talent, his almost-total neglect of the healing powers of the Light. He claimed that he was weak in the powers, and that his magic had advanced as far as it could, that he had reached his limit. But she believed that it was simply the product of his own neglect for the magic of the Light, using it instead as a weapon. Using the Holy Light as a weapon, to destroy! If she did not love him, if he were not her husband, and a hero and a king besides, she would have long since hauled him before the Tribunal in Mysidia for his sacrilege. If he would simply _apply_ himself, he could be nearly as strong a mage as she. But the war had taken a terrible toll of them all, and had forced even _her_ to learn to use the Light offensively, in imitation of something she had seen FuSoYa do. And without it, as much as she hated it, they would not have been able to defeat Zeromus. She hated it, but it was true.  
Cecil merely chuckled. "Indeed. And my discipline emphasizes the warrior's arts much more strongly than the magical side. But since you know so much about this research, has any real progress been made, or is it all theory?"  
"Theory. Well, I thought so. But someone must know how to do it, because we're clearly in the future."  
"We are?"  
"Well, we can't be in our past, or I'd have heard of this kingdom."  
"Nobody here has heard of our modern kingdoms either. Perhaps we're in the far past."  
"That or the far future. But it's the only explanation," Rosa replied.  
"No it isn't." She could tell that Cecil did not like this idea at all. "We could be on a different world entirely. The Mysidian whale-ship flies between planets, and the second moon was inhabited. Could we be on another entirely? Perhaps colonized by ancients of times long ago, in another whale-ship, and when they arrived they named their first city after their old home."  
It was a thought. It would explain many things. But it left one big question unanswered. "But why? Wherever, _when_ever we are, who brought us here, why, and how did they sneak into our rooms and do all that they did without ever waking us up?" Neither of them were particularly heavy sleepers, another aftereffect of the war.  
"I don't know. But I know we'll never find out by talking to each other. Where was that man's house supposed to be?" The guards at the palace would admit nobody who did not have a writ of recommendation signed by the "mayor of the city," most likely an elder or governor of some sort. But the twisting streets of the city were disorienting, and they could not find the house they had been directed to. For the fifth time they stopped a passerby for directions, a middle-aged woman in rather poor dress.  
She looked them up and down, gawking at their weapons and armor, and stammered, "right down this street, milord, milady. Three blocks, then turn left. Two blocks, turn right, and 'tis straight in front of ye." They thanked her and she walked off a little too fast, clearly afraid of them. They found the house this time, and called at the door.  
After a moment they heard steps from within, and a smaller door set in the top of the door opened. "See here," came an annoyed voice even before the head it belonged to was visible, "why'd you bother disturbing us when we all know the mayor's not-" the man stuck his head through the window-like observation door, looked down at them and stopped speaking in mid-sentence.  
"Yes," asked Cecil in the friendliest tone of voice he could muster.  
"Beggin' yer pardon, milord, milady, I don't believe I know ye. I was expectin' the rabble of the city, always callin' at the door lookin' for some of his time."  
"Could we speak with the mayor?" asked Rosa. "It is a matter of urgency."  
"Aye, certainly it is, but he's not here. Left three days ago for Kaaris."  
"Kaaris?" asked Cecil. "Where is that? We're... from another land, and are not yet familiar with this one."  
"It's nearly due south o' here, milord, followin' the road southward. Right on the sea it is, the largest port in the kingdom."  
"How far," asked Rosa.  
"Oh, perhaps half a day's journey afoot. Seven hours, no more, on chocobos, less on your mounts of course." He obviously wished to flatter them, thinking of them as some unknown but powerful nobility, and he was not wrong, except that they had no mounts.  
"Our chocobos are not with us," Rosa explained. "Do you know where we can hire some? We must see the mayor on a matter of some urgency."  
"Of course, milady. Down this road twelve blocks, turn left…"

Eight hours later they rode into Kaaris. The mayor's servant had not known where they should look when they arrived, but his master had said something about the recent problem with monsters (five days ago they had begun to infest the land after an absence of three years!) and so they sought out the local armory. As they found the place and walked in, Cecil glanced about, admiring the wares on display. The weapons and armor were well-crafted, nothing to compare with his own or Rosa's, of course, but of good quality. But the merchant who owned the shop was nowhere to be seen.  
He took it as a good sign. Perhaps he was in another room, conversing with the mayor of Galaar. He closed the door, loudly, to alert anyone who might be listening to the presence of a customer. Within a few moments a man walked through the door at the far end of the room. "Can I help you?" He looked to be in his early thirties, tall, and well-muscled, any by the look in his eye, a retired warrior who knew his way around the arms and armor he was selling.  
"Yes, we're looking for a man named Tralarre, the mayor of Galaar. Has he been here?"  
"He has, good sir, buying up all sorts of weapons for the soldiers, but he left not half an hour ago."  
"Where was he going?" asked Rosa.  
"Home, with the first shipment."  
"The first shipment?" asked Cecil. If that meant what it sounded like, then was Galaar raising up an army? That was the last thing he wanted, to become involved in another war of conquest.  
"Oh yes; his order was larger than I can fill for almost a month yet, but he bought what I had and left with it."  
"What does he need so many weapons for?"  
The merchant looked at him as if he were mad. "For the guards and the soldiers, of course! With the monsters back all of a sudden, nobody feels safe without a good blade anymore."  
"I look around and I see a large, prosperous shop," contended Cecil. "Such a large order that you couldn't fill it for a month is enough to begin to equip an army!"  
"Exactly! Especially after all that business the last time the monsters came, won't we need a good, powerful one if it happens again?" He shook his head as if this was something _everybody_ knew and understood. Perhaps, thought Cecil, it is.  
"Very well. I suppose we must seek him in Galaar, then."  
The merchant laughed. "You look wealthy enough, but I'll wager you don't have any airships."  
Rosa blinked at the non-sequitur. "An airship?"  
"Well you weren't planning on walking there after dark or riding, were you? That's a nice sword your... escort?"  
"Husband."  
"Your husband has, milady White Mage," he seemed a bit surprised by this bit of news, "but it won't protect the two of you at once from the monsters at night. Only reason Tralarre went this late's because he's got an escort of fifty soldiers, and I still don't give them better than two-thirds odds of surviving the journey."  
Rosa smiled indulgently. "We can handle ourselves against monsters."  
"Be that as it may, I doubt the Light Warriors themselves would feel safe on that road after dark. Especially if there was only two of them."  
"Thank you," Cecil broke in. "We will take that under consideration." They walked out, and Rosa asked him if they should find an inn to spend the night.  
"No, I think we'll be all right. We have a fast chocobo and the few monsters I saw on our way here didn't look very frightening."

"See? The monsters weren't any worse after sundown," said Cecil as they rode into sight of the walls of Galaar. The torches set on the walls were burning bright, and their Chocobo, just moments before at the point of collapsing from weariness, took heart at the light. "Just more common." They rode up to the city, only to find the gates closed.  
"Whoever our most kind and generous benefactor is who brought us here with our armaments," began Rosa in a voice that dripped sarcasm, "I--"  
"Would really like to kill him?" finished Cecil.  
"I wish he'd had the common decency to include a tent in the package. We're going to be here for another few hours at least, and I'd like to not have to spend it out in the cold and with monsters all around."  
"Can you teleport us inside?"  
She sighed. "No, I can't use _Exit_ to _enter_ a place we're _outside of_."  
"Just wondering."  
"You know what I'm wondering?"  
Cecil braced himself for a verbal onslaught. His wife had been in a terrible mood ever since they woke up this morning. "What?"  
"I overheard the people at the Chocobo stables in Kaaris talking about two young ladies. Strangers, they said, babbling about 'the return of magic.'"  
Cecil blinked. "Return of magic?"  
"I didn't catch much, but apparently these two thought that there was no more magic in the world, and were stunned to find it working now."  
"So? A couple of nuts. Too much magic messed up their minds; it's a risk you take, right?" One of the more interesting events that transpired after the defeat of Zeromus was an international incident between Fabul and Mysidia that almost erupted into war. A prince of the royal line who had been born with skill in Black magic and sent to Mysidia to train overextended himself and damaged his mind. He was driven violently insane, and when the White wizards captured him and cut off his magical powers (their standard course of action in such cases,) the prince became so desperate that he killed himself. The King of Fabul, not fully understanding the details, blamed Mysidia, and had the clerics of Toroia not stepped in quickly to act as mediators, the situation could have easily degenerated into combat.  
"I'm not sure they were crazies. It just seems too coincidental. What if, in some other time, far in our future, magic somehow ceases to exist? What if two girls from their time have been brought here, just like us, and now find that magic has 'returned?'"  
Cecil shrugged. "Could be. I doubt we'll run into them, though. They're back in Kaaris."  
"No, they'd been in the stables looking for a Chocobo. They might have come here."  
"But if there was no magic in their time, how could they be brought here?"  
For once, Rosa had no quick answer. "I... well..." she bowed her head, as if in defeat. "I"m not sure."  
Despite the cover of darkness, Cecil tried not to smile at that.  
Several hours later the sun began to break over the horizon. Cecil heard the sound of a guard walking along the city's walls. "Ho, the city!" he called. "Open the gates!"  
A helmeted head peered over the battlements at them. "You've been out there all night?" he asked suspiciously.  
"No, just recently got here on our Chocobo. We need to speak with the Mayor urgently."  
A grinding of gears was heard from within, and the great wooden gates began to creak open. "The Mayor's meeting with the King," the guard called down to them. "I'd suggest you rest at the inn, if you've been out by night."  
Cecil and Rosa looked at each other, trying not to laugh at the prospect of returning to that innkeeper. "Thank you, good sir!" Cecil called.  
As they passed the gate in the thick city wall, Rosa remarked, "you realize that now we have to go to that inn again?"  
"Why?"  
"It would look very suspicious if we didn't, especially now that the guard specifically pointed it out to us."  
Cecil groaned. "You're right. Well, let's get it over with then."  
The innkeeper recognized them as they walked in. "You two look like you've been testin' out those weapons of yers all night. Lookin' to apply as guards?"  
"No thank you; we just need a bed," said Cecil.  
"Very well. That'll be 150 GP."  
After they paid, they walked into the back room and lay down on one of the beds. It had been a long night, and they were both asleep within moments.  
There were two other occupied beds in the room. Neither Cecil nor Rosa were awake when the inhabitant of one of them, a tall lady with hair so blond it was almost white, awoke. She quickly put on her boots and strapped the strange bladeless sword hilt she had placed under the bed to her waist, then went over and shook the other customer by the shoulder. Her companion, a girl just into her teenage years, gave a start, but the older woman motioned for silence. In a whisper she said, "There are other clients here. We don't want to disturb them." The girl nodded, retrieved her own shoes and a magical rod from beneath the bed, and the two of them left the inn together.


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting

Meeting

Rosa awoke to Cecil´s hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her into consciousness. The room was full of light now, very bright despite the curtains drawn over the windows, and she guessed it was about noon.  
She was still tired. That was one thing she truly envied about her husband and his made-up "discipline" of the Paladin; his training had instilled in him an almost unnatural level of stamina. The long ride last yesterday, the long ride back, the monsters, the dark hours outside the city gates, and all the enervating stress that went with it, had only required about five hours of sleep for Cecil to recover. To recover completely, it seemed; as a healer she knew how to diagnose many conditions simply by looking at the patient, and neither Cecil´s face nor his body betrayed the least sign of fatigue.  
And the worst part about it was that she could not complain to him; he'd suggest that she revitalize herself with her magic, and ridding one of physical weariness was one thing that magic simply could not do. The use of magic _caused_ one to become worn out; Cecil had had a friend, (Rosa had never actually met the great sage Tellah, but Cecil and the others who had fought at his side talked of him often, and fondly,) who had so overexerted himself, casting a spell beyond his strength, that it claimed not only his stamina but his very life essence, extinguishing his life beyond the capacity of magic to restore. That was an extreme case, but the basic principle was the same. Magic takes a certain vitality out of a person; it does not grant or restore it.  
"Time to leave already?"  
Cecil smiled at her. "It's just past noon, and the mayor has finally emerged from the castle. We should go see him now, before some other urgent business distracts him."  
"How do you know that? Didn't you just wake up?"  
"About an hour ago. But you looked like you needed your rest, so I left you here in peace." _Four_ hours of sleep then! Rosa would be awestruck if she didn't find this so annoying. And _she'd_ been so dead-tired that she hadn´t noticed him arise, leave, or return!  
Rosa rubbed her eyes and stood up. "Well, let's go find him then."  
Cecil looked at her concernedly. "You _still_ look like you need your rest. You want to stay here while I speak with the Mayor?"  
"Thanks, I'll be fine."  
"You sure?"  
Rosa put on her shoes and started for the door, to remove all doubt. "I'll be _fine_, Cecil." They left and headed for the Mayor's house. "This looks to be another situation shaping up like the war against Zemus, and back then I survived without very much sleep. Except in airships, of course."  
Cecil laughed. "I always admired how you did that, you know. Airships always make me queasy, and I can never get any rest on one."  
Rosa was astonished. Now it was Cecil, admiring the way _she_ was able to sleep! "You get air-sick? _You?_ A former captain in the Red Wings?"  
Cecil grinned wryly. "Yes, and I know plenty of sailors who can't swim, too. I'd never flown before when I sought out the glamorous Red Wings posting, and by the time I got it, it was too late to change."  
"You know, I never knew that."  
"Good. I think you're the first person to _ever_ know." They arrived at the mayor's house chuckling over this. Cecil pulled the bell-rope, and the servant they had spoken with the day before answered, looking out at them through his door-within-the-door.  
"Ah, g'day to you milord, milady. Still lookin' for the mayor are ye?"  
"We are. Is he at home?" replied Rosa.  
"Aye, who should I tell him is calling?"  
Rosa was about to present them, but Cecil touched her hand just hard enough to make it a clear signal for silence. He thought for a second, then said "I am Sir Cecil the Paladin, captain of the Red Wings airship force."  
"Very well, milord. I'll announce you at once."  
When the man had left, Rosa asked, "And who am _I_ then?"  
"Sir Cecil's exceptional wife, the greatest White Mage in the land, who unfortunately does not possess any impressive-sounding titles except Queen of a land nobody's ever heard of."  
Rosa tried not to laugh. She hated the way he could disarm her with humor when she truly _wanted_ to be angry at him! "Why all the stealth and deception, anyway? You haven't been in the Red Wings for years."  
"They don't know that. It was the first thing I could think of. We're here to get answers, not to have questions asked of us. Until we can figure out where we are, who brought us, and why, the less we do to invite questioning, the better. So if the Mayor's in a time of crisis, and buying weapons by the warehouse-full, I pass myself off as an important, powerful, mysterious military commander. There is likely nobody who would attract his interest, and get us in to see him quickly, more than such a man."  
The small inset door opened and the servant appeared again. "The mayor says he hasn't heard of the Red Wings, but a Paladin of the Light is welcome here in these dark times." The viewing door closed, and the large door to the mayor's house swung open. The servant led them to the Mayor's study and stayed outside as they entered.  
"Sir Cecil the Paladin, captain of the Red Wings," said a tall man sitting behind a desk strewn with paperwork. He seemed to be in his mid-thirties, and looked as if he had been a warrior in his younger days, though his muscular body was now running somewhat to fat. _Too much time behind a desk,_ thought Rosa. He looked as if he hadn't slept for days, and wore a sour expression on his face, which he was trying somewhat unsuccessfully to hide. "And you, milday?"  
"I am Rosa the White." She suppressed a smile at the expression on Cecil's face when _she_ invented _her_ own title. "My husband and I have come on urgent business, and we need to speak with the king, concerning the monsters."  
"Come? From where? I have not heard of your Red Wings, not among the forces of any nation, nor am I aware of any mercenary group by that name."  
Rosa could not think of how to answer, and was grateful when Cecil took over. "We come from the far-distant Kingdom of Baron, bearing important tidings from the King to your king."  
"And where is Baron located?" asked the mayor suspiciously, with a trace of anger in his voice. "On which continent? The King will see nobody in this time of crisis but the Light Warriors."  
"The Light... Warriors?" asked Rosa. First the arms merchant had referred to them last night, and now this man. But she had no idea who they were.  
"Oh, you're from very far _indeed_ if you've not heard of the Light Warriors! The champions who saved the world from darkness in the war three years ago! Now who are you, and what business do you have here? Tell me or I will have you thrown out!"  
Rosa could hardly blame the man for his harsh attitude; he was obviously under a lot of stress, and had been for quite some time, and now they provided a convenient target to take some of it out on. Cecil, on the other hand, had his arms straight down at his sides, his hands clenched into fists so tight that they were beginning to turn white. Rosa knew that he did _that _for only one reason: to keep them from drawing his sword.  
"Look," he growled at the mayor, "I don't know who _you_ all are either, or why you've _never_ heard of _anything_ that's important, but _we're_ the ones that saved the world from evil in the war three years ago! Me, Rosa, and three companions who you'll probably tell me you haven't heard of either, and many others who fought at our side! Now we're here to see the King, and--"  
He was cut off by the mayor's derisive laughter. "Oh, _why_ do the crazy ones always come _here_? Not twenty minutes ago I had a pair of ladies in my office trying to tell me that _they_ were Light Warriors that nobody had ever heard of! Now, get out of my office, and my house, or I will call the guards!"  
Rosa saw Cecil's face begin to harden. This was not good at all. "I'm sorry to have bothered you, sir," she said, and took Cecil's hand, filling herself with a calming spell and transmitting it to him, hoping he would relax. "It seems that the mayor cannot help us, Cecil. We will have to take our message elsewhere." When even this did not provoke any interest from the mayor, she turned and left, with Cecil half a step behind her.  
As soon as they were out of the house and the door was shut, she confronted him. "What were you doing in there? You were about to draw your sword!"  
"I was not!"  
"Cecil, you were angry enough to kill him. I've never seen you like this before, even before you became a Paladin! Never!"  
"Yes you have." There was ice in his voice, and she knew he was thinking of the darkest moment of their quest, when Kain had stolen the last of the magical Crystals, betraying them and almost handing the world over into the hands of Zemus.  
"Yes, but that man isn't Kain. He's not a childhood friend, he didn't betray you. Why are you so angry?"  
"It's..." all the anger and tension seemed to drain out of him as he was forced to be honest with himself. "It's not just him, just like it wasn't only Kain. It's him, it's us being here, it's our kingdom being without us, it's... everything all at once. I feel like an airship caught in the middle of a thunderstorm: Chaos all around and I don't know really where I am, what's going on, or how to get out of it."  
"I understand. I felt just as... as helpless as you do now, back when Golbez was holding me prisoner."  
"Yeah, that's exactly how I feel. Like something has me chained to a wall and I can't get free."  
"Don't worry, Cecil. There's plenty of things we can do here."  
"Like what?"  
"Like trying to get to Mysidia, for one. Or some other place, somewhere where there could be someone who might tell us about why we're here. Somebody brought us here; we weren't just _discovered_ by the roadside and our warrior's gear that we had stashed away in the castle just _happened_ to be lying there next to us for the guy who brought us here to find. But there's nothing to indicate that we're being held prisoners in any way. I wonder if we weren't brought here, not for evil, but for _good_."  
"You think these people are having too much trouble with monsters, and so they searched through time to find someone who could help them with it, and then broke into their castle, abducted them in their sleep, and dropped them in the middle of nowhere without ever telling them what it was they were supposed to do? I'm not sure, Rosa. It sounds a little bit far-fetched."  
"Not when you consider that it happened twice."  
Cecil blinked. "Twice? With who else?"  
"With the two ladies who were in the Mayor's house before us. The same two, perhaps, who I heard about at the chocobo stables. There's a pattern forming, Cecil. I'm sure of it."  
Cecil shrugged. "Well, if so, where should we go about looking for these ladies?"  
Rosa started walking. "The first thing that comes to mind is to find another way to gain entrance to the castle and speak with the King."  
The Mayor's house was close to the castle, in fact, and as they arrived Rosa gave Cecil an I-told-you-so glance. There at the front gate were two women, both dressed as soldiers, carrying on what seemed to be the end of a very long argument with a group of four guards. The older one, a tall, middle-aged woman with long blond hair down to her shoulders, seemed to be arguing more with her companion than with the guards. Not that Rosa could blame her; the other woman (girl, actually; she couldn't have been anywhere near twenty years old yet,) was speaking in very loud and aggressive tones to the guards, demanding to see the King.  
One of the guards had seemingly had enough. "I'm sorry, but I must ask you to leave. The King will speak to none except the Light Warriors, and that is _final_." He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, as if to underscore the finality of the moment.  
"Oh yeah?" asked the teen-aged girl, pulling out some strange rod-like weapon and advancing toward him menacingly. Rosa stepped forward a few steps, wondering if they should intervene, and noticed that it looked like a _paintbrush_, of all things!  
The girl's older companion seemed to take this strange weapon quite seriously. She stepped toward and put out her hand to grab the teenaged girl. With a note of alarm in her voice, she yelled "No, Relm! Don't!"  
But the girl-Relm was her name?-had already begun to move her brush in a strange pattern. Rosa wondered if this was some sort of rune or magical invocation, but as something began to take shape before her eyes she realized it was stranger than that. The girl was channeling magic through the brush and creating (painting?) a mirror-image of the guard, standing between herself and the real guard. It was finished in seconds, and the image suddenly took life, drawing its sword and engaging the guard.  
The guard, frightened, drew his own blade and parried, but the image kept coming. The guard tried to fight it off, deflecting or batting aside strike after strike, but the magical duplicate disarmed him after a few exchanges. As it raised its sword for a stroke that would have severely wounded the guard, if not killed him, it suddenly vanished, its magical essence exhausted.  
Rosa expected the guard and his three comrades to draw steel and immediately rush the two women warriors, but to her surprise they all fell to one knee before the girl. The guard who the girl Relm had attacked stammered at her, "I... I beg your for... forgiveness, O Mage Knight. I w... will s... send for the King at once!" The other three guards seemed equally awestruck, whispering "Mage Knight" to one another in wonder as their comrade dashed into the castle.  
Relm looked at her companion with a puzzled expression. "What's going on, Celes?"  
The one called Celes was trying her hardest to not berate the girl on the spot. Rosa could not help but admire her self-control. She understood that what Relm had done was over the line, but they were in a somewhat delicate situation and she apparently had the good sense to not show any division between them. "It would seem that they hold the Mage Knights in high regard in this kingdom, Relm. You could have simply _told _them..."  
The guard re-emerged from the palace's gate, and behind him was obviously the king, a tall man, somewhat heavyset, wearing very regal-looking robes and a golden crown studded with jewels. He stroked his gray beard and walked up to the woman named Celes. He looked into her eyes, then said "So it is true. The Mage Knights are once again among us."  
"HEY!" Relm broke in. "She's not a Mage Knight, _I_ am!"  
"You?" The king glanced at his guards, and they nodded in confirmation. "My apologies, milady Mage Knight. If I may ask, to what do I owe the honor of your visit here, after so many centuries of absence?"  
Relm glanced about nervously. "To... well... it is not a... a matter to be discussed in public." She motioned with her head towards the castle gates.  
"Ah, yes. Come in, milady Mage Knight, and milady..." He glanced at the older of the two women.  
"Chere. I am Celes Chere, a warrior and the guardian of the young Mage Knight Relm Arrowny."  
Rosa felt Cecil step away from her side. She looked up and saw him walking very quickly, almost running, towards the castle. Puzzled, walked after him. When they got close enough to draw the King's attention, Cecil called out to him. "Your majesty, a word?"  
The king looked at Cecil questioningly. "And you are?"  
"Lord Cecil Harvey, Paladin of the Light and King of Baron, a distant land. I come bearing news that I fear may be in some way related to the return of the Mage Knights."  
The king frowned at this added complication. "Very well, come with us. We will all speak of these matters together, if there is nobody else who wishes for a moment of my time?"  
Rosa caught up with Cecil, admiring the quickness of his thought. _She_ had not thought of doing that! She walked with him into the castle, following the king of Galaar and the two strange women, Relm and Celes.  
It was time to get some answers.


	4. Chapter 4: Voyage

Voyage

"...and everything's been peaceful since then, for the last three years," concluded Celes Chere. "Until about a week ago. That seems to be a common point in each of our cases. The monsters had never completely vanished, a few bands of raiders harassing travelers and the like were still around, but they recently returned in force to harass our lands, as if our triumph over Kefka had never occurred. For four days our companions fought against them to protect our world, as did Cecil and Rosa and their companions. Relm and I had been working together helping to rebuild a city when the monsters appeared, and we immediately armed ourselves and led the city's defenders for four days. And then one night we went to sleep, and woke up in an inn in Kaaris. The innkeeper mentioned that someone had brought us in, and had left our best weapons and for us. Not the common gear we had been wearing, which had been next to the bed we were sleeping in, but our mystical armor and this enchanted sword, a blade made of magic, which was absolutely worthless after magic disappeared, just as Rosa and Cecil were armed by our mysterious... benefactor. Whoever is doing this apparently wants us to be ready for a serious fight.  
"And since then, we have been attempting to figure out where we are."  
"Or when," added Rosa.  
"When?" asked Celes.  
"It is my theory that the four of us have been brought here by time-travel spells, either from the distant past or the distant future of the current time. My husband favors the theory that we are from completely different worlds, perhaps colonized originally from a single planet by airships that fly between the stars, such as we used to reach Zemus's lair." She paused thoughtfully. "Is there a city of mages named Mysidia on your world?"  
Celes shook her head no, not noticing Relm's small start of surprise. Cecil saw, though. "You have heard the name, milady Arrowny?" He hoped he was imitating the local speech correctly.  
Relm's face pulled itself into an odd grimace at the honorific. "That is... that sounds much like the ancient name of my home, Thamasa, city of the Mage Knights. My grandfather taught me a little bit of Mage Knight lore as a child, before the end of magic made it..." she searched for a word, "unnecessary... and one ancient volume of his, a copy of a copy of a copy _et cetera_ of a book originally dating from long before the War of the Magi, refers to our city as 'Ta-masida.' It's been years since I read that, but the _strangeness_ of having your home referred to by a different name has always stuck with me."  
"Interesting..." mused Rosa. "Perhaps you _are_ from our future, then."  
Celes shook her head again. "I doubt it. Your descriptions of your world are far too different from ours. Our world has always had the Statues, for example; they literally _defined_ it. And your connections with the Espers," this was her strange word for Summoned Monsters, "are too different from ours. I would favor your husband's idea."  
"This is quite fascinating," said the king of Galaar. "The parallels between both your tales and the occurrences here are clear and manifold. Similar things occurred on this world three years ago, but I do not have time to tell you the tale, nor do I know all of it well enough to recount the story faithfully. But unlike your cases, I have heard nothing of our Light Warriors—the heroes of our world, or of our time—since the monsters returned. They seem to have disappeared, instead of rallying to the defense of our people as before. As you all did. I find it almost inconceivable that they should abandon us, or flee, or be killed by these monsters, but I cannot think of any other reason why they would not come to our aid.  
"It is clear to me that you are Light Warriors also, if not the ones of our realm. Perhaps it is simply that, without our Light Warriors to protect us, the Spirits of the Light have brought others to... fill the void, so to speak. It is not impossible that others such as yourselves may have been brought here as well. But these things are mostly beyond my ken. I would suggest you travel to Mysidia and consult the sages there. If anyone in the world can resolve this mystery, it is them."  
Cecil nodded his head. "Very well. How do we get there?"  
"By ship; it is on the eastern continent. Travel to Kaaris and speak to the merchant whose shop is alongside the docks. I will write him a letter explaining a few details of the situation, and mandating that he make a ship available for your use."  
Cecil did not like this idea. "We have no desire to commandeer a private ship," he protested.  
"Nor do I, but the exigencies of our current situation make it necessary. He will certainly not allow you to use one without a royal mandate, not in these troubled times, unless you were to buy the ship. I have had dealings with this merchant, and he would certainly charge you much more than its true value."  
"Very well," said Cecil. He still did not like the idea, but he liked dealing with crooked merchants even less.  
The journey to Kaaris was uneventful, and they headed directly towards the docks. Their route took them past the armory that Cecil and Rosa had visited, and Celes paused. "Wait here a moment," she said, and walked in. Cecil could not imagine what she wanted from the store; like his own, her gear was far superior to even the best of the merchant's wares, especially her magical sword, Atma. He had seen her fight with it, and it still defied comprehension. She had but to take the swordless hilt in her hand, and a great blue beam of light sprang from it, humming as it cut through the air, or the flesh of monsters along the road. Neither he nor Rosa knew what sort of magic this blade was made of, but it was at least as sharp as his holy crystal sword, Ragnarok.  
Celes left the shop carrying a shiny new steel sword in hand. Seeing Cecil's look of puzzlement, she simply said "Atma is a powerful weapon, but it is not... compatible with all of my powers." This meant that it interfered somehow with her magic, which Cecil had also seen at work. She, and Relm also, seemed to be neither White nor Black mages, but somehow _both_, as FuSoYa and Tellah had been, and powerful, on par with Rosa and Rydia. _And yet she is a powerful swordsman._ The very thought baffled Cecil. Neither the great sage nor the Lunarian guardian had more than the most rudimentary experience in physical combat. His former companion Edge, on the other hand, had a limited amount of Black magic, but at a terrible cost to his fighting skills. Edge had been less proficient-_much_ less proficient, even with two swords-at melee combat than himself or Kain had been. There was a balance to such things, he had always believed, part of the reason why he had never delved too deeply into the exploration of his own magical capabilities. But this woman, whose aptitude with the blade was almost equal to his own, seemed to utterly defy balance. And if her Atma sword dampened her magic somehow, than it must be even greater than he had already seen. (And with her out of practice, too!) It disturbed Cecil.  
They made their way to the merchant's shop and presented the king's warrant, which he read with great interest. When he looked up, he said, "I'm sorry, milord, miladies, but I cannot offer you the use of one of my ships."  
Relm's face began to turn red. "You would disobey a direct royal mandate?"  
"It's not that simple. There is an enormous sea monster in the waters of the harbor, and it destroys any ship that attempts to enter or leave. I have already lost two of my fleet, with their crew and cargo, and I'm in no mind to lose another, royal mandate or no."  
Celes absorbed the news impassively. "And if we were to rid you of this sea monster?"  
The merchant chuckled. "If you could accomplish that, I'd _give_ you a ship!"  
Cecil seized the opportunity. "Your word of honor?"  
The merchant's eyes betrayed a certain nervousness, but he'd already said it, and it was too late to take back. "My word of honor. If you manage to slay the monster in the harbor, I will give you one of my ships."  
"Very well. Where is it?"  
The merchant smiled cruelly. "In the bottom of the harbor. It only comes up when a ship comes by."  
Cecil felt the anger grow within him again. He had had enough dealings with merchants to know what was coming next. "And without a ship, we can't fight it, and until we fight it, we don't get a ship. Very well.  
"I am willing to offer a substantial collateral against the safety of your ship. If we do not manage to slay the monster before it sinks your ship, it will be yours to keep. But we need the ship immediately."  
The merchant scoffed. "It would cost more money to replace that ship than the four of you together can possibly be carrying around with you! What could you have that would be worth it?"  
In response, Cecil removed his helmet and shield and placed them on the table before the merchant. Then his gauntlets, and then he unfastened his breastplate and put it, also, on the table. "My Lunar Crystal armor. You'll not find a stronger set in all the world, not even with the Light Warriors." He offered his sword to the merchant and picked up the shield. "Even my holy sword cannot dent it." He gestured at the merchant to test the truth of his words.  
Rosa shot Cecil an are-you-crazy look as the greedy merchant took the sword and swung it at Cecil with all his might. Again and again he struck, and Cecil turned each one on the crystal shield until, after a dozen blows, the merchant tired of swinging the heavy blade and offered it back to Cecil, sweat pouring off his face. He examined the shield very carefully and found it barely even scratched.  
With an avaricious gleam in his eye, the merchant showed them to the pier where a ship was tied up. The look on his face made it clear that he wouldn't mind in the slightest to lose _one_ more ship. Not this time, at least...  
Rosa was a little bit nervous as they set the sails and began to move the ship out towards the edge of the harbor. Afterall, the last time she and Cecil had boarded a water-bound ship, it had ended in catastrophe; a giant sea monster had ended up sinking the ship, and they were lucky to escape with their lives. And now they were doing it again, _on purpose_ this time!  
Only a few ripples betrayed the monster's presence. Luckily, Celes noticed and immediately threw a huge lightning bolt at the enormous... _thing_... that came up right off their starboard bow. Rosa had seen Leviathan face to face, but this was nothing like the great Consort-Prince of the Summoned Monsters! It had the body of an enormous squid, but it was dark brown in color and covered in tough fish-scales, and instead of tentacles, it had a long, serpentlike tail, perhaps a hundred feet in length, perhaps longer. No sooner had it surfaced, than it snaked its tail underneath the keel of the ship and tried to bring it up over the top. Cecil lunged forward-_unprotected!_ thought Rosa-and slashed at the powerful tail, with Celes's two swords following a split second later.  
Rosa felt the familiar tingle of magic being worked nearby, from the direction of the sea monster, and began to work a protective shield, until she saw Celes shake her head at her in a very clear _no_. Wondering what this was about, Rosa strung her bow and fired at the monster's scaly head, keeping an eye on the warrior woman the whole time.  
What she saw contradicted everything she had ever known about magic. Celes took her new sword and held it above her head, chanting and focusing magical energy into it until glowing runes appeared along the length of the blade. She remained motionless in this position until the monster conjured a fierce Aero that would surely have blown the ship onto the dock and severely damaged or destroyed it. But the magical wind somehow bent itself and slammed into Celes's runic blade, then vanished as if the sword had somehow... _unconjured_ the spell. The impact rocked Celes back a step, but aside from this she appeared completely unharmed. The instant the sword's runes stopped glowing, Relm retaliated with an immense bolt of lightning, which slammed into the sea monster's body with crackling bolts of power dancing all over it. The giant creature's eyes rolled back in its head, and its grip on the ship loosened. Rosa thought it looked dead, but Cecil stepped forward, perhaps to be completely certain, and rammed his great crystal blade into the monster's eye, all the way up to his elbow. He did _something _with the sword-Rosa couldn't tell exactly what he was doing without his forearm being visible, but it looked like he gave it a quite vicious twist inside the creature's skull-and withdrew the sword. The sea monster immediately went totally limp and began to float in the top of the water, as dead fish do.  
"_That_ was your terrible sea monster?" asked Cecil with just the right amount of contempt in his voice as he collected his armor from the merchant. "Hardly even a challenge." The merchant was completely flabbergasted by the ease with which they had dispatched the monster that had been terrorizing their harbor, and had gone quite pale as the four warriors re-entered his shop, completely uninjured.  
Being a skilled businessman, however, the merchant quickly recovered from his shock. "The Spirits of the Light be praised!" he whispered in an awe that Cecil was not certain was feigned. "The Light Warriors have left us, but new ones have come to take their place in our day of dire need. Take the ship, Light Warriors; it is yours." With sudden politeness, he showed them back to their ship and saw to it personally that they were well-stocked with provisions.  
As they sailed out of the harbor, Cecil wondered aloud what had prompted his sudden change in character. Relm just looked at him incredulously. "You say you're a king, and you don't understand political maneuvering? We're the new Light Warriors now, the replacements for the great heroes of this world. And now he's a trusted friend and supporter of the great Light Warriors."  
"Relm!" Celes scolded. "There's no need to be rude to him!"  
"Well it's not my fault if he doesn't understand what's as plain as-"  
Celes silenced her impetuous companion with a quick spell, then turned to Cecil, her face quite flushed. "I must apologize for her behavior. She has not yet learned to control her tongue as well as she does her magic."  
Cecil nodded his acceptance. "Don't be concerned. I regularly hear worse from my own wife," he joked, causing them all to laugh, except for Relm, whose mouth was still unable to produce the slightest sound until Celes felt that she had been disciplined (Cecil could think of no better term for it) sufficiently and released her.  
Relm glowered at her older companion. "Sheesh, Celes! You're so up_tight_ sometimes!"  
Cecil simply laughed all the harder.

It was six days before they sighted land, and they were all glad to reach it as quickly as possible and get off the ship. Not that they had found each other unpleasant company; once Relm had been sufficiently persuaded to keep herself under control or so that Celes would not do it for her, they had all become good friends very quickly. The three women, especially, were always talking together about one detail or another of magic on Celes and Relm's world, a topic which fascinated Rosa endlessly and mostly bored Cecil, who spent most of his time either piloting the ship or practicing swordsmanship with Celes. It was a new experience for both of them, fencing on the rolling deck of a sailing ship, and they both agreed that they should practice as much as they could, in case they ever needed to be able to do it for real.  
It was simply that there was something overly restricting about being on a ship in the middle of the ocean, and also the constant pitch and yaw made them all slightly nauseous. Rosa had worked out a healing spell that helped somewhat, but they were all happy to reach solid ground. After a few hours of rest on the beach, they decided that they needed to make their way to civilization. Rosa cast a magical wave that would travel outwards in all directions and resonate if it touched other people. This "seeker" spell was developed originally to locate lost or missing people; now they were the lost ones and she was using it to find a city.  
Rosa raised her staff, closed her eyes, and concentrated, sweat breaking out on her brow from the effort necessary to cast a field of magic over such a vast distance. Finally she lowered her hands and exhaled heavily. "There's a city to the north of us. It's pretty far; too far to walk before tonight."  
Everyone groaned at this. More time on the ship.

The new Light Warriors arrived at the port town of Vinaiy about an hour before sundown. The dockworkers helped them find a pier and tie the ship up, and they got directions to the local inn; they were all quite weary by this time. As they approached the inn, they spotted a very conspicuous man. His black hair was longer than any of the men of this town wore it, and his white shirt, bright blue vest and red trousers were in sharp contrast with the muted colors they had observed in the local tastes in clothing. The man looked confused, wandering around aimlessly as if searching for something, but without any idea as to where to start looking.  
Cecil walked over to the man. "Are you all right, sir?"  
The man had a strange look in his eye, one that Cecil recognized too well. This was a man under a great deal of stress, one whose world had been turned upside-down and shaken violently. He had seen it all too many times in the last war. But the look in the man's eyes went beyond that. _He is like us,_ thought Cecil. _He's from another world.  
_ The man looked at Cecil, and the three women with him, and turned quite red. In an embarrassed tone of voice, he said "I... I think I'm lost. I... got separated... and I can't find my way back to the inn."  
Relm rolled her eyes at this, and had not Celes sent a minor jolt of magic through her body as a warning, she would have made a sharp comment regarding the man's intellectual capabilities; the inn was _right over there_! Rosa spoke up instead. "We're heading to the inn too. I think it's this way. Would you like to come with us?"  
"Oh yes, thank you. It's almost dark; I've gotta get back quickly or Quistis is going to kill me!"  
"Quistis?" asked Relm. It was about the strangest name she had ever heard. "Is that a man or a woman?"  
"Woman. Quistis is my traveling companion. She's a... we're... well... wait until you meet her. She could explain it better than I can; I'm not even sure I understand myself."  
The party traded knowing looks. They had found another pair of new Light Warriors.  
"And what did you say your name was, sir?" asked Cecil.

* * *

_ Sorry it's been three months since the last update. I've been really busy with work and college and various other things, but I'm getting back to work on FFR now. More chapters coming soon.  
_ _Keep the reviews coming!_

_Mason Wheeler_


	5. Chapter 5: Mysidia

Mysidia

Quistis Trepe woke up, feeling the strange disorientation that comes from awakening in an unfamiliar location. Then she saw Laguna and the four companions that had met him last night and it all came back to her. The stories they had told. The mission they had been sent on, to find a city that they were surprised that she had never heard of. The similarities between all their experiences. She shook her head at the strangeness of it all. If she hadn't experienced it herself, she wouldn't believe any of it. She had simply been on a visit to Estar to consult with the President about organizing defenses against the renewed monster activity, when they had been snatched away into this... place/time/whatever. Nobody seemed to be clear on what the relationship between their own realities and this one was! But the mage Rosa had suggested that, as she and Laguna had been brought here after the other four of them had, and had been placed directly in their paths, that they had been intended to meet and join together. Quistis wasn't sure about that hypothesis, but it seemed to fit the facts well enough, and from what they had said, their current mission seemed to hold the best chance of actually finding out any solid explanations as to what was going on, so she and Laguna had agreed to travel with them towards the city of mages when the next day arrived. And now it had.

They rented Chocobos and headed out along a road towards Mysidia, which they reached a bit after noon. Mysidia was not as large as the other cities they had been to, nor did it look at all familiar to any of the new Light Warriors. The streets curved to accommodate the hilly terrain that the city was built upon, and the buildings almost seemed to have been _grown_, not built; there was not a right angle to be seen anywhere. The party asked directions of a few of the citizens and made their way to the Tower of Sorcery, a large edifice near the center of town where the sages and elders of the city met.

"Good day," said a man in dark green robes as they walked through the door.

"Good day," responded Cecil. "We are here to speak with the Council regarding a matter of some urgency."

"Very well. They're closeted right now with the Sage and the Summoner, but in a few hours they'll be free and you may speak with them."

"The Sage and the Summoner?" asked Quistis. "Are they Light Warriors?"

The man gave her a strange look. "Of course not. Nobody's seen the Light Warriors since the monsters came back."

"All right. Who are the Sage and the Summoner then?" she asked.

"You don't look like you're from around here, but I can't imagine you'd not have heard about them showing up here. Did you just arrive in Mysidia?" When they responded in the affirmative, he nodded. "Ah. Well, they're a pair of powerful mages, escorted by two warriors, that showed up here out of the blue a few days ago. Strange folk; the Sumoner's no more than a girl, the sage is a talking cat, and one of their escorts is a man with a _tail,_ of all things! But the Council has taken an interest in them." He shrugged.

The adventurers looked at each other, and Cecil smiled. "In that case, we should be speaking with the council _right now_. We know something of these strange arrivals, and one of my companions," he gestured to Relm, "is a young Mage Knight, come to consult with the mages of this city."

The man's eyes widened at the words _Mage Knight_. "After all this time?" He walked over and looked into her eyes. "By the Light Spirits!" he whispered reverently. "I... I will announce you at once!" He hurried off down a corridor, hiking up his robe slightly to enable him to move more quickly.

"Why does everyone do that?" Relm asked Celes. "The king looked into _your_ eyes and thought you were a Mage Knight, and now this guy does the same thing to me."

Celes thought for a moment. "The Mage Knights gained their power through their association with the Espers..." she mused. "And I received my magic the same way, in Cid's Magitek infusion program--" She stopped as she noticed the strange looks the other four were giving her. "What?"

Cecil and Rosa noticed too, and traded glances with Quistis and Laguna. "Well," said Quistis, "it seems that we've found another parallel between our experiences: a man named Cid?" Cecil and Rosa nodded. "We'll have to ask 'the Sage and the Summoner' about that."

They could see the green-robed man returning, and he beckoned towards them with his arm. He led them down a twisting corridor and into a chamber where at least a score of wizards and sorceresses sat in a semicircle around a girl about Relm's age with a horn protruding through her hair, a deep red catlike creature whose tail appeared to be on fire, a young man with golden hair and a long, monkey-like tail, and a surprisingly well-endowed woman who nonetheless looked tough enough to forcibly demonstrate to anyone who were to pay her unwanted attention the error of his ways.

A white-bearded, balding man in a black robe addressed Relm. "Milady Mage Knight, escorts, I am the Elder of Mysida, and on behalf of the Council I welcome you to our city. I was told you could explain the singular events which transpired today?"

"Well not _exactly_..." began Relm, but Celes cut her off with a hand on her shoulder.

"You have our thanks, Honored Elder. I am Celes Chere, a former General in the Imperial Army of Vector, now the companion and protector of the young Mage Knight Relm Arrowny. These are Cecil and Rosa Harvey, King and Queen of the land of Baron. Cecil is a Paladin of the Light, and Rosa a renowned White Mage and healer. And this is Laguna Loire, President of the land of Esthar, and Quistis Trepe, an elite mercenary of the Balamb Garden SeeDs. None of us are familiar with your world, nor with each others', but in our own lands each of us is considered a great hero for our roles in defeating a terrible evil which threatened our worlds three years ago. A few days ago, while attempting to deal with a new upsurge of monster activity in our lands, each of us was abducted in their sleep and brought to this world, two by two, and placed in each others' path, seemingly by design. We were told by the King of Galaar to visit the Council in Mysidia, in the hope that you would be able to provide some explanation, and now that we arrived, it would seem that two more pairs of heroes have found their way to you before us."

The Elder nodded, not knowing exactly what to say, and the red feline answered Celes. "I am Nanaki, a protector of Cosmo Canyon and observer of the Lifestream, and my companion is Tifa Strife of Midgar, and it would seem that the same pattern is forming around all of us."

The monkey-tailed youth nodded his assent. "I'm Zidane Tribal of the Genomes, and this is Eiko Carol, a Summoner of the Madain, and we also helped save the world three years ago. So do any of you know what's going on? I've been snatched away from my wife and our son, and Mrs. Strife here is in a similar predicament, so any help would be welcome."

The various heroes looked at each other confusedly. After a moment of silence, the Elder stroked his beard thoughtfully and spoke up. "You have given us much to think about. I can only suppose that this has to do with one of our most ancient and least-understood prophecies: the Reunion." The sage waved his hand and incanted something, and a scroll appeared in the air before him. He took the scroll and unrolled it, then began to read.

_The Day of Light cometh,  
__and throughout every land  
__the chosen of the Light shall triumph  
__over the forces of the Darkness.  
__Three years of peace shall there be,  
__then cometh the Day of Darkness,  
__and the Lord of the Dark  
__shall gather his champions and return in power.  
__Then cometh the Reunion,  
__that which was riven shall be returned to its place,  
__and Darkness shall cover the land  
__and overwhelm all realms  
__if it falleth not in the favor of the Lord of the Light,  
__he who guardeth the seals  
__of the Ultimate Power._

When he was finished reading, there were a few moments of silence, until Relm spoke up. "Well," she said, "that's... interesting, and I can understand some of it, but what does the rest mean? What's the Reunion supposed to _be_, and who're these Lords of the Light and the Dark? And..." she waved her hand, "_all_ of it."

The sage frowned slightly. "We know little more than you do, but it would seem that its words are beginning to be fulfilled. Throughout every land, ours and all of yours, light triumphed over the darkness, and we have all had three years of peace. Now the champions of darkness seem to have returned and their power begins to cover the land throughout all realms, ours and all of yours. Now it appears that the chosen of the Light—those who triumphed over the Darkness—are being reunited from every realm.

"Every realm," he repeated, stroking his beard with a look of concern on his face, "but our own. There has been little sign of the Light Warriors of this world since the problems began anew last week. We only know regarding one: the ninja Blaze, captain of the Light Warriors, has recently taken up residence on a high mountain to the west of here. When we sent an envoy to seek his aid, they were turned away by a troop of hostile dragoons. By my arts I have ascertained that Blaze is still alive, but that Jek, a great Dragoon of the Light Warriors, is not anywhere to be found on the mountain, so I fear the worst. I require your aid; please break the dragoon siege, rescue Blaze, and bring him back here that he may consult with us. Perhaps when the Light Warriors are brought together, further light will be shed on the nature of the Reunion."

Cecil nodded. In a level voice, he replied, "Yes, I have had some experience fighting treacherous dragoons." He looked around, looking each of his companions in the eye one by one, and each one nodded. "We will go."

"Go, then, Light Warriors, and let us pray you do not arrive too late."

* * *

_Ugh. It's been way too long since I updated this. I know I promised "more updates soon" and said that three months between chapters was too long a time. That was, about 7-8 months ago. :( But now I'm really back and really getting back to work on this. __I just hope there's a few people left who care._

_Mason Wheeler_


	6. Chapter 6: Blaze

Blaze

The trip to the mountain required nothing more than a rather uneventful Chocobo ride, but that proved to be the only easy part of their mission. The mountain was heavily wooded, with a clear trail up the southern face, but the Light Warriors had gone less than five minutes' distance up it when they heard strange roaring noises from the trees nearby, on either side of them.

"What was that?" asked Laguna.

Cecil tensed. "Some monsters. Large ones."

The roars came again, closer this time, and they realized that the sound was not coming from the forest to either side of them, but from above it! They heard the sounds a third time, almost directly on top of them, and a flight of dragons flew into view over the treetops! There were nine of them, each with an armored warrior mounted on its back, carrying a heavy-looking spear. Cecil had heard Kain speak of the great Dragon Knights of old, but in their land the tame mounts no longer existed for the Dragoons. Here, they clearly still did!

One of them called out to the hindmost dragoon. "This is the worst group yet! Go get the boss, quickly!" The dragoon saluted with his spear, wheeled his dragon around, and flew back up the mountainside as quickly as his mount could go. After he departed, the dragoon who had spoken before called down to them. "This mountain is closed to all comers!"

Relm responded by painting a replica of one of the dragon knights, which flew into their ranks and engaged the speaker with its spear. The other seven dragoons turned on it, slicing the illusion apart before it could wound their comrade, then turned and pointed their spears at the enemy. Ghostly apparitions that looked like dragon spirits flew outward, converging upon Relm and making her cry out in anguish. A trickle of blood began to run from her nose, and she fell to one knee. Celes raised her hands and threw a powerful chain-lightning spell to cause havoc among them, but the disciplined warriors hid behind their large shields until it had passed, then began to cast regenerative and healing spells on each other while one, who had not been injured by the magic, jumped skyward, aiming for Celes. His spear came down directly towards the former general's head, and her twin swords left her without a shield to protect herself. Cecil dashed forward and shoved her out of the way, bracing himself and holding the Lunar Crystal shield over his head. It managed to turn the blow, but just barely, and the Paladin was almost thrown to the ground by the force of the impact. Before he could recover his equilibrium, the dragoon jumped back up to its draconic mount, safely beyond Cecil's reach.

Quistis was the next to engage them. Raising her hands, she conjured an Aero bolt that blew one of the flying dragons into a tree. It fell to the ground, stunned and probably badly injured, its rider barely managing to jump to safety. The other seven knights crouched down, holding their spears in a style that Cecil knew all too well: they were all going to jump-attack at once!

"Scatter!" he called, but it was too late. Eight dragoons leapt downward, and six spears found their marks, smiting all but Cecil and Celes to the ground. Celes and Cecil both brought up thier shields and managed to divert the blows, but they were almost thrown off their feet by the numbing blows. In desperation they took fighting stances, ready to hold off these eight knights to the last if necessary. The dragoons did not jump back to the safety of their mounts, but signaled to them, and the dragons began to fly low towards the two heroes, preparing to roast them with several sets of flaming breath.

At that moment another voice rang out through the air. "STAND DOWN!" The voice caused Cecil to look skyward in disbelief. How could this be? "The boss" had arrived, mounted on a dragon-steed like the others, but he carried a gleaming ivory spear and his armor was made of glittering, nearly impervious lunar crystal much like Cecil's, except it was a deep blue in color instead of white. The dragoons pulled back, obedient to their leader's order, and he called out to the warriors on the ground. "Cecil? Rosa? Did the Light Spirits send you here too?" He brought his dragon down to land on the trail before them and dismounted. "Revive them," he ordered, and the bewildered Dragoons obediently administered Phoenix Down healing feathers to their fallen foes.

"Kain?" Cecil asked hesitantly. How had _he_ been brought here?

The dragoon stepped towards them quickly and removed his helmet, and Cecil suddenly found himself enfolded in the arms of his old friend. He returned Kain's embrace for a moment, then stepped back. Kain took a step towards Rosa, as if to hug her, but she did not move. "Hello, Kain. It's... good to see you again," she said slowly.

Behind them, Eiko spoke up. "Umm... guys? What's going on? Isn't he the leader of the bad guys we're here to fight?"

Cecil hesitated. How to respond to that question? Kain had demonstrated a terrible weakness in the past, a tendency to be dominated by dark powers. Had he revived them simply to gloat? Or to use them to further the aims of his dark master, whoever that may be now?

Seeing the indecision on his former comrade's face, the blond dragoon smiled benignly. "Relax, Cecil. I'm free of all that now. I'm on your side for good this time."

"I've been led to believe that before..."

Kain sighed. "Yes, you have, haven't you? And considering the situation, I can't blame you for not trusting me entirely. Here." He threw his white spear on the ground at Cecil's feet. "I'm unarmed now. It's a long explanation, but you have nothing to fear from me anymore. I'll tell you all about it, but first we should go speak with Blaze."

Eiko spoke up again. "Blaze? Isn't he the--" Zidane placed a hand on her shoulder and she stopped speaking.

Kain's eyes widened. "Have you been talking to the wizards at Mysidia?" Cecil nodded. "That explains it. I suppose it would look to them like we had his home under attack. On the contrary; we're guarding this mountain from assassins; most of the Light Warriors have been killed since the monsters returned. Blaze is one of the only ones left, and we can't trust anybody to come near him, even if they _do_ claim to be from the Council at Mysidia. Come up and we can explain everything."

Somewhat reluctantly, Cecil agreed. He picked up Kain's spear and began to walk up the trail. Kain mounted his dragon and began to fly on ahead of them slowly, leaving the rest of the Dragoon squad behind to continue their vigil. As they walked, Cecil and Rosa explained to the rest of their companions who Kain was and why it was difficult for them to trust him. The others took this new news mostly in silence; it made about as much sense as anything _else_ that had happened to them. The only question was from Eiko, who wondered who else had come with Kain, as it always seemed to happen in pairs. Nobody had an answer for that question, and Kain was too far ahead to have heard it.

After about an hour's hike up the rugged trail, the forest began to clear somewhat and soon after they reached a plateau where the trees had been cleared away. Standing in the middle was a small wooden house, and Kain alighted near the entrance. He led them inside, and they saw a young man asleep on a bed at the far end of the room. He was rather short and powerfully built, wearing a black ninja robe which contrasted sharply with the unhealthily pale color of his skin. Two large katanas lay crossed over each other on the floor at the side of the bed. Kain walked to his side and gently shook his shoulder. "Blaze," he said in a low voice.

The ninja awoke and sat up slowly. "Who are all these people, Kain?" he asked wearily. It was clear that all was not quite well with him.

"I'm not quite certain, but those two are old friends of mine. Remember I told you about my story?" The ninja nodded slowly. "These are Cecil and Rosa."

"Rosa?" He asked. "The White Mage? Could she..." he hesitated, looking at her pleadingly.

Rosa gave Kain a questioning look. "He's in a lot of pain," Kain explained. "The assassins got to him yesterday. Some sort of poison that we can't do anything for, and it makes it difficult for him to concentrate." Before he had finished speaking, the healer was at his side and had placed her hands delicately on Blaze's arms, letting her magic flow into him, both soothing his pain and probing gently to discover the nature of the poison. Sweat broke out on her brow as she continued to work, minute after agonizingly slow minute. After an initial sigh of relief as the magic first numbed his awareness of pain, Blaze bore the whole treatment in silence. When Rosa finally stepped back, she was a bit unsteady on her feet. Cecil recognized the signs of fatigue in his wife; she had overexerted herself and needed to sleep.

"Thank you," Blaze said in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

Rosa shook her head. "I wasn't able to cure you. Whoever created the poison used magic beyond my skills; I was only able to slow its spread somewhat and ease its effects on your body."

"Thank you still. That's a lot more than these Dragoons were able to do," he said with a weak laugh. "So, Kain knows these two; who are the rest of you?"

The various companions introduced themselves yet again, wondering how many times they would have to do this before the "reunion" was completed. When they were done, Cecil spoke up. "We still haven't heard your story, Kain. How did you get here?

Kain hung his head slightly. "I suppose you've been wondering where I was ever since the wedding. I couldn't come because I was on Mount Ordeals at the time, trying to overcome the darkness within me, searching for some way to atone for the evil I had been a part of. When I reached the shrine at the top, though, the Light wouldn't accept me. I was told that my purification was not yet complete, and commanded to climb down the mountain and make my way to another high mountain to the west, and never attempt to return to Mount Ordeals until my fate led me back. You can imagine how confused I was; there's no such mountain. But I left, and halfway down I realized I wasn't on Mount Ordeals anymore. At least, not the one I had climbed up; I was in a different world entirely!

"When I reached the bottom I headed west, and after a few days' journey I arrived here. I met a veteran dragoon named Jek, a Light Warrior who was training a platoon of young dragoons. They took me in and taught me the skills that are lost in our world, how to fly a dragon and draw upon inner strength. And I've been up here for three years now, waiting for fate to lead me somewhere else. Then a few days ago we woke up in the morning and Jek was dead. The men chose me as the new Captain, and the next day Blaze showed up looking for refuge. There were assassins after him the whole way, and he helped us fight them off until yesterday, when _this_ happened to him."

Cecil frowned slightly. "That would explain our reception."

"Exactly. They thought you were the ninth attempt."

Blaze looked at Cecil. "So why _did_ you come?"

"The Elder of Mysidia sent us to talk to you. You're the only Light Warrior he knows where to find, and he doesn't know what's going on. But there's a prophecy that says that the forces of evil will return and the Chosen of the Light must reunite to fight against it, or something to that effect. We're all here, and he thinks that it would help things along if a Light Warrior of this land were to join us."

Blaze thought for a moment. "The evil will return? I certainly hope not; the foe we faced came much too close to ruining this world entirely. We fought a powerful Demon Lord, Laukabi, who was bent on finding and consuming the Crystal that regulates and balances our world."

Eiko gave a little start. "What would that have done?"

"Laukabi would have become all-powerful for one. We're not certain what it would have done to the world, but it would not have been--" The door opened, cutting Blaze off as a dragoon stepped inside.

Kain turned. "Yes?"

The dragon knight did not answer; he simply leapt into the air on a low trajectory that would bring him--and his spear--directly onto the bed where Blaze lay.

"NO!" yelled Kain as he leapt into the air as well. He tackled the man in the air with a loud crash of armor, then another crash as they fell to the floor. Kain began to wrestle with the other man, grappling at him and trying to hold him down, but the dragoon fought back with superhuman strength and almost got free of his Captain's grip twice before Nanaki stepped over and pinned one of his arms to the floor with two massive paws. This was enough for Kain to hold the man down while he reached down the front of his armor and pulled out a white, heart-shaped pendant that he wore concealed underneath it on a chain about his neck.

The dragoon's eyes went wide, and he struggled even harder as Kain brought the pendant towards him, thrashing back and forth, but Kain managed to touch it to the man's forehead. Instantly the knight went limp, and Kain stood up, gesturing to Nanaki to free him. The dragoon looked up at his Captain in shock. "Spirits! What did I do?"

"It's all right, Timothy. You didn't manage to do anything. We're all safe."

Timothy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the Light Spirits!"

Anticipating the next question, Kain explained. "Whoever's behind the monsters this time, it can dominate people just like Zemus did, but it's even stronger and more skilled at it. The Light gave me this pendant to protect me from domination, and this is the third time I've had to use it to break the spell on one of my own men. I--"

"HEY!" yelled Eiko suddenly.

Zidane looked at her. "What is it?"

"We've gotta leave here. Now!"

There was something in the urgency of her voice that forestalled any questions. Rosa raised her hands and cast EXIT, and they found themselves back on the trail, near the house. Blaze was laying on the ground, with the rest of the company in a circle around him. A loud roar brought everyone's heads up, as a massive gray dragon descended towards the cabin.

"Bahamut?" said Blaze in disbelief, scrambling to his feet. The dragon opened its mouth and breathed forth a wave of energy that obliterated the entire cabin and many of the trees behind it, then flew away. "Oh, spirits!" whispered Blaze, trembling with fear. "If they've managed to bind Bahamut, then what chance do we have?"

Nanaki, Zidane and Eiko made a quick search of the area, but whatever Summoner had almost killed them all was gone, most likely teleporting away as soon as the summon was finished.

When they returned, Laguna suggested that they all head to Mysidia. "It's not as if you can stay here, afterall."

Cecil nodded. "Kain, why don't you and your men come with us. It looks as if your fate has brought you something to do away from this mountain."

"Very well," Kain acquiesced. "They've been training three years under Jek and I, and there's nobody else I'd rather have at my side in difficult times like this. Present company excluded, of course." Cecil thought he saw Kain's eyes focus on Rosa for just a moment as he said that, but it was too quick for him to be certain. "In fact, we should leave right away, and go as quickly as we can. Laukabi--or whatever's in charge now--has found us and he seems to want us all dead." He called his dragon to him, which had flown off in search of food, and gathered the rest of the dragoon squad. "Everyone mount up; these Hiryus can fly a lot faster than even the best chocobos run."

* * *

_Tom: The terms "final, ultimate confrontation", "coming soon", and "Final Fantasy: Reunion" do not belong together. At least notanytime in the near future. :P This is still the introduction, actually. The game won't begin in earnest for a few more chapters, and even then we'll only be about 1/3 of the way through Disc 1, so to speak.  
More to in a few days. Keep the reviews coming!_

_Mason Wheeler_


End file.
